Addis Ababa — The House of People's Representatives of Ethiopia during its 6th regular session held today has approved an additional 582 billion birr federal government budget for the 2017 fiscal year.

The additional budget will be used to cover debt payments, social budget subsidies, expand capital projects, social safety net programs, and salary for government employees.

The supplementary budget is important for this fiscal year and was necessary due to the adjustments made following the macroeconomic reform the country recently implemented.

Of the approved additional budget of 582 billion birr, 393 billion birr is allocated for regular expenditure, 70 billion birr for capital projects, and 119 billion birr for expenditure adjustments.

Minister of Finance, Ahmed Shide on the occasion addressed quarries posed from Members of Parliament.

The minister clarified that the additional budget will be financed through domestic and foreign revenue streams and will be allocated to support low-paid government employees and safety net beneficiaries.

After thorough deliberation on the additional budget bill for the 2017 fiscal year, the house approved the bill with three objections and five abstentions.

It is to be recalled that the House of People's Representatives approved 971.2 Billion Birr budget for this fiscal year on July 4/2024.

The budget is based on the 10-year Prospective Development Plan and the next five years medium-term macroeconomic and fiscal frameworks of the country by considering the government's financial capacity and expected revenues as well as expenses.